1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an apparatus for heating liquids such as soup, water, etc. The invention may also be used to cook or heat food such as a roast, etc. Even more particularly, the apparatus of this invention includes an infrared heater visor-like deflector selectively secured to the frame of the heater so as to be positioned at the upper discharge end of the radiation disk of the infrared heater with the visor or deflector having a utensil support provided thereon for supporting pots, kettles, etc. Further, the structure for mounting the deflector on the heater also enables other accessories to be selectively removably secured to the heater.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many attempts have been previously provided for cooking foods by way of radiant heat. For example, see U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,089,258; 4,421,015; 6,276,356; and 6,732,637. Although the devices of the prior art may cook food with radiant heat, the prior art devices seem to be very complicated and expensive. Further, it is not believed that the prior art methods of cooking foods are convenient to use and perhaps do not perform the cooking operation in a satisfactory manner. Further, the prior art devices do not provide an attachment which may be connected to and supported by a conventional infrared radiant heater such as those infrared radiant heaters of the Val6 Series manufactured by Shizouka Seika Co., Ltd., having an address of 4-1 Yamana, Fukuroi-shi, Shizouka-ken, Japan 437-8601.
In the co-pending application Ser. No. 13/532,153, filed Jun. 25, 2012, an apparatus is disclosed for cooking or heating food or liquids. In that application, the visor-like deflector was attached directly to the radiation disk. The direct attachment of the deflector to the radiation disk in the co-pending application works very well but could possibly raise a warranty issue with respect to the heater.
In the co-pending application Ser. No. 13/731,368, filed Dec. 31, 2012, Applicant provided a mounting structure for attaching the visor-like deflector to the frame of the infrared heater with the mounting structure enabling other accessories to be selectively removably secured to the heater.
In an earlier patent application of Applicant, Ser. No. 13/494,123, filed Jun. 12, 2012, entitled APPARATUS FOR COOKING FOOD, an improved apparatus was disclosed for cooking food such as meat, seafood, chicken, etc. The inventions of the co-pending applications provided additional ways of cooking or heating food or liquids. The instant invention is a further improvement in the cooking or heating art through the use of an infrared heater.